Excelerate Energy has signed a 10-year contract to provide an FSRU to a Finnish company, with the aim of providing LNG to the wider Baltic Sea region.
Gasgrid Finland CEO Olli Sipilä welcomed the speed of the agreement with Excelerate. Ultimately, the FSRU will be in Helsinki but it may spend its first winter in Estonia.
“The project requires seamless co-operation between different actors as well in the future, and the project is progressing as planned. Leasing an LNG terminal vessel is extremely important, as it ensures security of supply for gas supplies in both Finland and Estonia,” Sipilä said.
“On the other hand, we see that there is a need for the terminal in the wider Baltic Sea region and it has been received with interest.”
Excelerate will provide its FSRU Exemplar. This can store 150,900 cubic metres of LNG and provide more than 5 billion cubic metres per year of regas capacity.
Sipilä and Excelerate president and CEO Steven Kobos, with Gasgrid Finland chairman Kai-Petteri Purhonen, signed the deal in Helsinki. Finnish Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko, Director-General for Energy Riku Huttunen and US Ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey attended.
European security
“Flexible access to LNG is a critical component of European energy security,” said Kobos.
“We are honoured to collaborate with Gasgrid Finland to deliver essential energy infrastructure that will benefit Finland and more broadly the Baltic Sea region.”
Kobos said Excelerate supported the US-EU task force on energy security. This includes “diversifying LNG supplies in alignment with climate objectives”.
Gasgrid signed a deal with Estonia gas transmission operator Elering early this month. This allowed for the FSRU to harbour this winter in an Estonian port, if Helsinki was not yet ready.
Finland and Estonia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the end of April on joint leasing of an FSRU.
Excelerate listed in the US in April, raising $416 million. It also raised a $350mn revolving credit facility that month. As of February, the company had 10 FSRUs.
The company sent the Exemplar to Argentina in June 2021 for the winter season.
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